The Movies: TMNT, 22 Jump Street, Horrible Bosses 2 You know what studios think is really funny? Jokes in movies that reference things from other movies. It's like the movie is in the real world and the characters are aware of other movies. Of course, not only has this brand of humour been done to death already (ever heard of The Simpsons, Hollywood?) more often than not it simply comes across as desperate. By far the worst culprit was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which has Michelangelo (when not hitting on Megan Fox) spout line after line name-checking any popular movie he can think of in a bid to be funny. Yes, Christian Bale's Batman has a deep voice, but unless you're adding any insight you're no different to a YouTube commenter regurgitating that five year old observation. Other films did it too, ranging from the cringeworthy (Horrible Bosses 2's "he's fight clubbing" felt painfully forced) to the bearable (the ever-enjoyable 22 Jump Street), but none as unashamedly as TMNT. It looks like quoting pop culture is to the 2010s what talking about fast food was to the 1990s. It'd be fine if it was all as delightful as Bill's dissection of superheroes, but just pointing something out doesn't make a joke.
